I didn't really know what forum to put this in, but I thought it here because I came across Aleister Crowley from reading about different musicians. I don't know much about Aleister Crowley at all, I was reading something about Bowie and his name was brought up, I've seen his name be associated with Led Zepp, and SGT Pepper's too. I know that he was some kind of spiritual teacher who believed in some sort of magic, but when I look him up there are so many different things.. For example, some believe he was a Satanist, others believe he was the furthest thing from a Satanist. Some say he is "The Wickedest Man In The World" and others say that's not the case at all..

Basically my question is who is Aleister Crowley, and why/what is his influence in Music?

Daryl Hall has mentioned him in the past. I think Daryl was into the occult at one time. But I guess Aleister would be more of an influence on some types of heavy metal and goth music.

I used to read a lot of Robert Anton Wilson when he was still alive, and Bob was heavily into Aleister Crowley (who was a Satanist, no doubt about that, albeit his branch of Satanism is probably very different from , say, the Church of Satan or other Satanists...there are various branches and forms of it). I was kind of surprised because Bob was , at least in my opinion, very different from his hero Aleister Crowley.

Being Turkish, I also found it interesting that Crowley named his son "Atatürk", after the founder of the Turkish Republic. No idea why he did that.

Many rock musicians were really into him, probably because , you know, RocknRoll=rebellion?

Even Jay-Z wears shirts with Crowley slogans and symbols from time to time (for example Do What Thou Wilt, which was Crowley´s motto).

His cult had this place named Thelema in Sicily/Italy. He drove some women insane.

^^He's also one of the cutouts on the Sgt. Pepper album.

Kevin: Around the time of Sacred Songs, I saw that you were very interested in the writing of the mystic Aleister Crowley?

Daryl: Yeah, I was sort of in that period of time in my life where I was looking around. I grew up in a very, I don't know—I think I have a metaphysical attitude towards the world. Everybody wants to try and formulate opinions on what's going on around them, and what's the nature of reality. And I got pretty involved in all that stuff. I learned a lot from it. And through that I went to other things. I think some of my lyrics reflected what I was thinking about at the time or what I was reading, and I've used that as a part of my general philosophy of life.

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Kevin: What do you think it is about that specific man that has attracted so many musicians like Jimmy Page and David Bowie and myself? I've also done some research on him; he seems like a pretty fascinating character.

Daryl: Oh, he influenced you too?

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Kevin: Yeah, to some degree.

Daryl: Oh, so you know what I'm talking about.

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Kevin: Yeah, I'm just sort of attracted to—

Daryl: Because a lot of people don't. A lot of people misunderstand what that fella's all about. He had a very unique way of looking at things. I think he borrowed from a lot of people, like everybody does, and he created an interesting philosophy, which is flawed, but at the same time has power and, I think, has a lot of use in your life. I think it's an interesting point of view. That's the best way I can put it. I think it has a special resonance to a creative person who doesn't have a chained brain, someone who thinks in broad strokes and thinks alternatively. I think that his philosophy has appeal to that mode of thinking.

2009 Interview

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Around 1974, I graduated into the occult, and spent a sold six or seven years immersed in the Kabala and the Chaldean, Celtic, and Druidic traditions … I also became fascinated with Aleister Crowley, the nineteenth-century magician who shared these beliefs.” - Daryl Hall to Timothy White (1987)

Invocation Of My Demon Brother

{1969} is an 11 minute film directed, edited and photographed by Kenneth Anger. The music was composed by Mick Jagger. It was filmed in San Francisco at the Straight theater and the (former) Russian Embassy. According to Kenneth Anger, the film was assembled from scraps of the first version of Lucifer Rising.

Sound - Mick Jagger

Speed Hacker - Wand bearer
Kenneth Anger - Magus
Lenore Kandel- Deaconess
William Kandel - Deacon
Van Leuven - Acolyte
Harvey Bialy & Timotha Bially - Brother and Sister of the Rainbow
Anton LaVey - His Satanic Majesty
Bobby Beausoleil - Lucifer

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Invocation of My Demon Brother (1969) is the eighth of Anger’s nine extant short films, which are collectively titled The Magick Lantern Cycle (1947–1980). Not one of Kenneth Anger’s best-known works, Invocation has come to be eclipsed by the earlier pieces, Fireworks (1947) and Scorpio Rising (1963), in the pantheon of American avant-garde films that are regularly revived by film societies and universities. In this essay, I will show that it remains one of Kenneth Anger’s richest works, in terms of its use of symbol and ritual, and is a title that deserves greater critical recognition than it has been afforded in recent years.

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Perhaps the single strongest influence on Kenneth Anger, evident from both films and interviews, has been that of the English occultist Aleister Crowley (1875–1947). Crowley coined the term magick to refer to the system of occult beliefs that he propounded and to distinguish them from traditional systems of magic. Crowley’s most significant contributions to early 20th century occultism were the integration of Nietzschean thought along with principles derived from the budding science of psychology. He defined magick as “the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with the Will”, and argued that every intentional act is a magickal act (6). The religious doctrine that he developed, known as the “Holy Law of Thelema”, centres on his maxim, “Do what thou Wilt shall be the whole of the Law”.

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Deborah Allison 2005

zelaira= wiccan=crowley

Tobias Churton discusses his 2014 book Aleister Crowley - The Beast in Berlin: Art, Sex, and Magick in the Weimar Republic. The talk also touches on psychology, politics, science, spirituality, materialism, quantum physics, social conformity, limits to human understanding, and the quest for meaning and purpose in life.

Gnostic poet, painter, writer, and magician Aleister Crowley arrived in Berlin on April 18, 1930. As prophet of his syncretic religion Thelema, he wanted to be among the leaders of art and thought, and Berlin, the liberated future-gazing metropolis, wanted him. There he would live, until his hurried departure on June 22, 1932, as Hitler was rapidly rising to power and the black curtain of intolerance came down upon the city. Known to his friends affectionately as ‘The Beast’, Crowley saw the closing lights of Berlin's artistic renaissance of the Weimar period when Berlin played host to many of the world's most outstanding artists, writers, filmmakers, performers, composers, architects, philosophers, and many other luminaries of a glittering world soon to be trampled into the mud by the global bloodbath of World War II.

Drawing on previously unpublished letters and diary material by Crowley, Churton examines Crowley's years in Berlin and his intense focus on his art, his work as a spy for British Intelligence, his colorful love life and sex magick exploits, and his contacts with German Theosophy, Freemasonry, and magical orders. He recounts the fates of Crowley's colleagues under the Nazis as well as what happened to Crowley's lost art exhibition - six crates of paintings left behind in Germany as the Gestapo was closing in. Revealing the real Crowley long hidden from the historical record, Churton presents ‘the Beast’ anew in all his ambiguous and, for some, terrifying glory, at a blazing, seminal moment in the history of the world.

http://www.tobiaschurton.com

MickyDolenz said:

Daryl Hall has mentioned him in the past. I think Daryl was into the occult at one time. But I guess Aleister would be more of an influence on some types of heavy metal and goth music.

That's true, but he was also a big influence on the hippies. Free love and drugs were part of his idiotic misunderstanding of the Book of Thoth. The actual book doesn't exist and all that is around is the Greek version, the Roman version and some morons who feel the book was Tarot cards. The actual book, (based on what is known from recovered writings in Egypt) is nothing like ANY of the versions that came after.

steakfinger said:

I rebuke this thread

[img:$uid]http://www.nwbotanicals.org/mediawatch/god_warrior1.jpg[/img:$uid]

Useful sites for further, clear information about Crowley, his activities and beliefs:

http://iao131.com/

http://www.thelemapedia.org/index.php/Main_Page

I have been accused of being a "black magician." No more foolish statement was ever made about me. I despise the thing to such an extent that I can hardly believe in the existence of people so debased and idiotic as to practice it.

- Aleister Crowley

Basic Beliefs

The Great Work
Striving to ascend to higher states of existence, uniting oneself with higher powers, and understanding and embracing one's True Will, their ultimate purpose and place in life.

The Law of Thelema
"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law." "Thou wilt" here means to live by ones own True Will.

"Every man and every woman is a star."
Each person possesses unique talents, abilities and potentials, and none should be impeded in seeking out their True Self.

"Love is the law. Law under will."
Each person is united with his True Will through love. Discovering is a process of understanding and unity, not force and coercion.

http://altreligion.about.com/od/alternativereligionsaz/a/thelema.htm

Junkie, Hustler, Conjuror of his day.

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He's gotten quite a bit of press (which he would have wanted) because of Rock & Roll but at the end of the day, he was a man that could lead the weak willed while taking of advantage of anything he could. His writings are interesting but nothing I'm going to read again.

OperatingThetan said:

The Law of Thelema

"Every man and every woman is a star."

OperatingThetan said:

The Law of Thelema

"Love is the law. Law under will."

The law of Thelema is so misunderstood by Christians, and they don't realize how similar it is to one of their own concepts:

"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law

Love is the Law. Love under will.

There is no other law but do what thou wilt."

There are two possible interpretations of this.

The first is that Crowley was satirizing the Bible overall with his Book of the Law, which he "adapted" from other metaphysical/occult books himself. To hear the Book of the Law read, it's very reminiscent of the Old Testament story of how God smited people, especially in the 3rd part of the Book. Celtic Frost, one of the architects of the death metal sound, cite him heavily in their work, especially in the album To Mega Therion, but also in Monotheist.

The second is that there's a kernel of truth in what he wrote, almost like him saying, "but if you are going to believe what I write, here's something for you to really meditate on. This is where the battlefield of giving one's Will over to God. If you believe that God is Love, then try this one on for size.

"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law

God is the Law. God under will..."

In becoming saved, you give yourself and your will over to God through God's child, Jesus. Giving your will over to Jesus means you make a choice.